PowerMac G3/266

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Yoda

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Jan 22, 2023
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I hadn't even seen one of these since 1999 when I set one up for a senior faculty manager, so spotting this one on eBay, 'tested' but with no HD, for $40 seemed worth a go - if nothing else, I have a couple of spare IDE drives, and would probably fit an IDE-CF replacement anyway if the computer worked.

It arrived today, looking like it has lived a slightly hard life (the photos showed this), and I spent a good 15 minutes trying to work out how to turn it on to see if it powered up. DUH! Soft power. No idea how I forgot that!

I plugged in an old NEC Multisync using a dip-switch adapter, and hit the power button on my ADB Extended II. It chimed, whirred a bit, the screen came on... and it booted. Mac OS 9, 192Mb RAM, what I assume to be the original 4Gb HD, and very very fast.

Quite pleased with that!
 
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Yoda

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Jan 22, 2023
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I'm not sure whether to leave it on Mac OS 9, or go back to 8.1, which I think has everything I need in it, and is age appropriate for this system anyway. But I need to do a clean install, since while it's running well, it is very badly cluttered with previous owner materials, which are about as disorganized as I have ever seen.

Looks like it was last in regular use in 2006/2007.

Aside from totally forgetting soft power, I had also forgotten how quick these were on software of their time.

A weekend to clean it up outside and in, replace the PRAM battery, and then probably get an IDE-CF or something similar to replace the HD.
 
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ClassicHasClass

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Personally, on a G3, I'd stay on at least 9.1 or 9.2.2. Mac OS 9 is better tuned for the G3 than older releases, though you're right that there's not a great deal of functional difference between it and, say, 8.6 (8.5 brought in the new nanokernel and more of the OS was PPC-native, so I wouldn't go back to 8.1 on a Power Mac without a specific reason).

My personal "bat out of hell" system is a MDD G4 with a Sonnet dual 1.8GHz G4 upgrade and 2GB of RAM, which Mac OS 9.2.2 sees 1.5GB of. It screams on classic software. But my 7300 with a G4/800 and 1GB acquits itself pretty well in 9.1.
 
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Yoda

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Jan 22, 2023
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ClassicHasClass said:
Personally, on a G3, I'd stay on at least 9.1 or 9.2.2. Mac OS 9 is better tuned for the G3 than older releases, though you're right that there's not a great deal of functional difference between it and, say, 8.6 (8.5 brought in the new nanokernel and more of the OS was PPC-native, so I wouldn't go back to 8.1 on a Power Mac without a specific reason).

My personal "bat out of hell" system is a MDD G4 with a Sonnet dual 1.8GHz G4 upgrade and 2GB of RAM, which Mac OS 9.2.2 sees 1.5GB of. It screams on classic software. But my 7300 with a G4/800 and 1GB acquits itself pretty well in 9.1.
Click to expand...
I hadn't factored in the question of PPC-native code, so that's a very timely reminder, and means you're certainly right that 8.1 wouldn't be a good option, despite it being what it came with. And after thinking about it, you're right that it may be better to move it up from 9.0 to 9.1 even if not 9.2.2.

I don't think I have a 9.2.2 iso, but I'll grab one and experiment!!

I do have a MDD too, though only the base dual 867 model. I haven't fired that up in 15 years or more! But I'm rather more partial to older systems. The G3s are a bit of a hole in my personal usage experience, and seem like a great blend between the software I used to know really well from university days, and computing power.

Dang, I might have to go in search of the MDD, and see if I can cope with the noise!

eric said:
If you really want to add some speed to it adding a SATA drive is a cheap choice for $6 (+$2 shipping) for Ali - run a flash utility (no need to swap chips) and you'll have a very fast drive! https://tinkerdifferent.com/threads...ci-power-mac-impossibru-updated-2-21-23.1494/

I have one of these but I find myself using my 9600 more as It's the one I had back in the day :) Good/cheap find!
Click to expand...
I do like the idea of a SATA solution, that's a much better idea than a CF adapter. I thought of that because I use one in a 630 and it is actually rather effective, but not really suited to what may be a hard working daily driver!

Great advice, thanks!
 
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Yoda

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Jan 22, 2023
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I opened the G3 up, and found why it still has its HD... the recycler removed the floppy drive instead, presumably thinking it was the hard drive, maybe not having much time to delve down any further. It does create a bit of a problem because I actually do need a floppy, but otherwise even inside, this thing is in really good condition. Very dusty though!

Does anyone know what make/model of floppy drive this system would have had? And, just as importantly, what kind of mounting bracket/sled/carrier it had, because that's missing too.

The data and power cables are still there, and the Zip drive works.
 
retr01

retr01

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Hi Yoda! :)

The floppy drive for the beige G3 is Apple part number 661-1390, which is a Panasonic JU-268A026C. On this web page about the Macintosh 1.44 MB FDD, you will find a floppy drive interchangeability chart near the bottom of the page. It appears for the beige G3, only this one will work.

1677332152887.png
 
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Yoda

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Jan 22, 2023
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retr01 said:
As for the carrier, that would be Apple part number 815-1688. Besides buying a used one, it can be 3D printed. 🤓
Click to expand...
This is absolutely great, thanks!!!
Pretty sure I can find one of these drives, though I have no 3D printer or access to one to make the carrier. even so, that's a perfect place to start, so thanks again!
 
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speakers

speakers

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I second eric's SATA PCI suggestion. I have a couple of G3s running with these.

The Gossamer's restriction of only being able to boot off the first 8GB of any IDE drive is a real pain. Having SATA drives on a PCI RAID controller is way faster and not subject to this IDE boot restriction. And the SATA drive can be a SSD.
 
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Yoda

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Jan 22, 2023
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speakers said:
I second eric's SATA PCI suggestion. I have a couple of G3s running with these.

The Gossamer's restriction of only being able to boot off the first 8GB of any IDE drive is a real pain. Having SATA drives on a PCI RAID controller is way faster and not subject to this IDE boot restriction. And the SATA drive can be a SSD.
Click to expand...
That's good to know - for some reason I'd forgotten the IDE restriction. Time to make a plan rather that just ad hoc fixes!
 
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